Home Dryer question for ya'

[WarPony]

I have a 27" Frigidaire gas dryer and it quit drying last week. Okay, here goes:


1) Push the start button and the tumbler starts to turn and the blower comes on.

2) The ignitor comes on, the burner ignites and starts to make heat.

3) The flame stays on for about 30-45 seconds and peters out, never to come on again until it's turned off and cools off.

I would say it's the thermostat but there are two of them, one down in the duct work of the dryer and a "safety" thermostat located in the drum area. Any ideas? Am I pi$$ing in the wind on the thermostat idea?

Jeff

[madjack]

Jeff, my first guess would be the safety t stat BUT that is only a guess...I DUNNO..........................

[bg]

Could also be a bad flame sensor somewhere in the unit. Sometimes the flame sensor is part of the ignitor.

[Sierrajack]

Jeff, I think there is a P/O sensor on the burner. It senses when you are about to be pissed off and shuts down the unit......
I don't know either but your problem leads me to believe it's thermo-couple or "stat" that ain't doin' it's thing. Which one, how pricy are they and maybe replace both at the same time.

[WarPony]

Jeff, I think there is a P/O sensor on the burner.........

No, that one is on the end of my foot..........

One T-stat is $35 and the other is $55.

Jeff

[AlaskaJack]

....One T-stat is $35 and the other is $55.

Well, you know in your heart that it's the most expensive one!

Incidentally, have you done a "Google" search? Bound to be some sort of troubleshooting thread that you can find.

[WarPony]

AK Jack, this IS my Google. I've seen so many oddball questions asked in this section I thought I'd go here first.

Jeff

[Podunkfla]

Warpony... I would check the thermocouple as most times if a pilot light won;t stay lit, that's the problem. It will shut off the gas valve if it detects no flame or is malfunctioning. The thermocouple is what senses the heat so is the flame goes out the thermostat cuts off the gas.
Chances are the thermocouple sensor is not getting properly heated or the other end of the thermocouple that screws in with a small brass nut needs cleaning for good contact. A new thermocouple should only cost a few bucks. The sensor end has to be in the blue flame and should heat till it glows red. Sometimes they just need to be adjusted a bit to get in the flame.

[Nitetimes]

I'll tell you what the last repair guy told me when I went to buy parts for a gas dryer. Don't buy anything until you have thoroughly cleaned all the vent work out. Open the thing up and clean it out from the lint trap clean out the vent pipe. I honestly thought he was full of $hit because he didn't have the part I wanted but he convinced me to do it and the thing has worked since.
The biggest culprit seems to be the fan area south of the lint trap. Hers had loads of old lint in it and I won't even go into all the other goodies I found in there down wind of that, including 2 Kennedy 50 cent pieces.
Give it a try, it might be worth the time spent.

[WarPony]

Sorry Brickster, I forgot to mention that mine is an electronic ignition unit and it is coming on because I can see the orange glow.

[Podunkfla]

Sorry Brickster, I forgot to mention that mine is an electronic ignition unit and it is coming on because I can see the orange glow.

Warpony... even so it has to have something like a thermocouple to detect if the flame has blown out and cut off the gas. It's a safety thing and they all have it.

[Lesbest]

Ditto the lint cleaning. Also the flame sensor has a lens on it that gets a film on it and it acts like sunglasses. Clean that off also.
Good Luck
Les

[Podunkfla]

Ditto the lint cleaning. Also the flame sensor has a lens on it that gets a film on it and it acts like sunglasses. Clean that off also.
Good Luck
Les

Yep... Les. I think you are right that some newer gas burners may use some type of photocell as a sensor rather than a thermocouple? Does the same thing... cuts off the gas if it detects the flame out.

[WarPony]

De-linted the ductwork......... no workie. After reading Les and Brick's thought about the photocell, I did some more recon work with a mirror and found a black box on the side of the heat burner tube. It's a real bitch to get to so I'll try and get at it tomorrow.

I told you this place was better than Google !!

Jeff

[anonymous2]

Warpony,

No photo cells in a dryer{because of lint factor},oil burners,yes. The flame sensor can be a small rod,or small box like unit that projects into the burner section. It senses flame,and sends signal to the Burner control{black box}. If flame, it sends signal to gas valve to open,if no flame it recycles timer for another try 45-60 seconds later,after 3-4 trys it shuts down the whole system. To reset ,simply unplug at the wall socket or disconnect box,wait a few seconds,plug back in. It may retry,but if it still goes out,it's the flame sensor,or burner control.Being your unit has a glow bar ignition it's new enough to a have control box{also controls start up glow ignition}. In my experience the flame sensor rarely goes{but not unlikely} A control box will start up ignition sequence,but can fail to open even if sensor is good I suspect the flame sensor, control box,or even a rare gas valve failure. Also check the tightness of all electrical connections,at gas valve,control box,flame sensor. I have been fooled more then once by a loose connection. One other rare occurance,check the supply shut off valve{hopefully installed near the unit}. A bumped partly closed valve could starve burner for gas,causing flame out & shut down.Never rule out any variables,closed valves,loose connections,low gas pressure,limit switches,drum sensors,and thermal fuses. I have seen them all,even unpaid gas bills,and locked out meters causing failures,DUH!

Try here & here:
http://www.do-it-yourself-washing-machi ... ryers.html

http://www.do-it-yourself-washing-machi ... ryers.html

BTW I found this on Google!

pateardropper